Service. Sacrifice. Selflessness.

On Sunday we looked at a passage of scripture where the apostle Paul encourages Timothy to live as a good soldier for Christ. Today is Veterans Day. It is a day when we express appreciation and honor to all those who have served our nation in the armed forces. The US military has many different expressions. Across the branches, all total, there are hundreds of different ways one can serve. But it seems like there are certain attributes that are consistent throughout.

If you will allow me the alliteration, what I see most consistently across all expressions of the military are service, sacrifice and selflessness. These attributes are built into the DNA of the armed forces. We literally call what they do “military service.” It is a life built on putting the needs of others ahead of their own. There is a sacrificial nature to military service.

Those who take up this call will sacrifice time, comfort, safety and more in order to fulfill the work that they have been called to.  And there is a sense of selflessness where the mission is of such importance that our service men and women will freely lay down what is best for themselves in order to fulfill the mission to the very best of their ability.

Honestly, that sounds a lot like what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. We are, first and foremost, servants. We are servants of Christ and we are in service to the world. To be a Christ follower is a sacrificial work. Christ calls us to give of ourselves in ways that are a sacrifice of time, comfort, resources, talent and more.

And to follow after the example of Christ is to be selfless. We have been called to a great, world-changing mission. To fulfill that mission will require selflessness. It will often require putting the mission of Christ ahead of what is easiest, most comfortable or most convenient for us.

Military service is a sacrificial and selfless work. I hope that today you have the opportunity to thank someone who has served. But I also hope that we will be inspired to reflect that same heart of sacrificial and selfless service. If we are to fulfill this great mission of sharing Jesus with the world, it will require the very best that we can offer.  

God bless,

Pastor Steve

Sign up for this Sunday’s in-person worship here. Be sure to choose the campus and time you would like.

Whatever comes . . .

I generally write a blog on Wednesdays. But this week I'm intentionally writing it on Tuesday, Election day, first thing in the morning. I have no idea what the election results will be. But I do know that no matter what the results are, a significant portion of our population is going to be disappointed. Sad. Perhaps even angry. By the time you read this, you may be one of those people who is either elated or discouraged.

I do want to take a moment to remind us of a few important things. First, whoever gets elected, we should pray for them. The apostle Paul, in his first letter to Timothy, said we should pray and intercede for all those in authority. Whether that leader was our candidate of choice or not, they have a tremendous responsibility that impacts many lives. We should pray for strength, for help, for wisdom and for godliness in their leadership.

Secondly, I would encourage us to be agents of healing. Our nation is deeply divided. I fear that by the time the election results are announced, the division and brokenness we feel in our nation will only be more pronounced. Beginning today, regardless of the election results, I believe God is calling the church to be a voice of redemption and healing. There is much to be done in this nation. We must work together to confront some of the great challenges and struggles before us. Jesus himself said that a house divided against itself cannot stand. I'm not expecting us to all see eye to eye on how to best approach important issues. But I do believe, as we have talked about in this recent teaching series, that we must deal with one another with grace if we are going to make any progress at all.

Thirdly, I want to remind us that no matter what happens in this election, God is still in control. Jesus is still Lord and Savior. And the church is still God's chosen instrument to bring the hope of Christ to the world. Our mission at Rock Church is to reach and disciple people for Christ.  Regardless of who sits in the White House, the mission is unchanged.  There are still hurting people all around us who desperately need Jesus. So whatever has happened, whoever got elected, we still have a calling to share the love of Christ with all the world. Whatever comes, that will never change.

I want to let you know that this Sunday in worship we will take time to recognize and express appreciation to our veterans.  If you have friends or family members who have served in the armed forces, this is a great opportunity to extend an invitation to worship.

Whether it is in person or online, I look forward to us all being together this weekend for worship.

God bless,

Pastor Steve

BTW, don’t forget that we are accepting donations to assist our mission team with material costs as they travel to Hackberry Louisiana in a few weeks to repair hurricane damaged homes. You can give right on line at www.rockgiving.org.

Bringing Jesus out . . .

For as long as I can remember, our primary strategy for sharing the good news was to invite and encourage people to “come to church.” If we could just help people to take that first step of joining us on a Sunday morning, they would have the opportunity to experience the joy of Christian community and to hear the good news of God's unconditional love. In fact, most Christian churches evaluated their success and effectiveness based on church attendance. If attendance is growing then we are succeeding in our mission.

But here we are, months into this pandemic, with no specific end in sight. So what does that mean for the mission of the church? Many have returned to in-person worship. But there are many who are not yet ready to return. And those in our community may be more hesitant than ever to walk through our doors on a Sunday morning. Many things in our world have simply come to a halt during Covid. Does that include the work of sharing the gospel? Do we put outreach and evangelism on hold until this pandemic is passed?

I sure hope not, because there are people in our world who need Jesus more than ever. No matter what is happening in our world, the mission of Christ continues. God continues to call people into a life-changing relationship with Him. And we as his church continue to be the ones to share the hope of the gospel.

Even with Covid precautions we were able to have an awesome Trunk or Treat in Sandown with close to 400 in attendance spread safely over several hours.

Clearly, how we do that in the midst of a pandemic may be different. I believe even now we can still invite friends and neighbors to join us for worship. But that cannot be our only approach.  Those who are worshiping online may consider inviting a person, couple or family to join you on a Sunday morning in your home. Or, if you're having to be particularly cautious and cannot open your home to guess yet, share the link with them. Invite them to worship in their own home, and then follow up with them to talk about it.

Using the Sunday worship experience as an entry point is a great approach. But it is by no means our only approach. In the great commission, Jesus instructed his disciples to go out to all the world. I think this is a time when we can rediscover the calling to go out. People don't have to come to church to hear the good news. We can bring it to them wherever they are. We can bring the gospel into our everyday conversations.

Rather than wait for people to come to us, We can bring Jesus out into the world. In a time when large gatherings are something many people are uncomfortable with, this is the perfect time to bring Christ to others one-on-one. We can share the gospel in our everyday relationships. I want to encourage us to use every opportunity to share our faith boldly in a world that desperately needs Christ.

One final note, I want to remind us that each Sunday we need to sign up for worship at the service of our choice. You can do so at this link. I also want to encourage us to use this time as an opportunity to visit other campuses. The last few weeks are Plaistow campus has been close to capacity. But we've had space at our other locations. If you have been attending in Plaistow, this Sunday you might consider checking out our Sandown or North Shore campuses.

Have a blessed week. I look forward to us all being together this Sunday in-person or online.

In Christ’s love,

Pastor Steve

Shine

In Paul's first letter to the church in Thessalonica he is commending them for their strong faith and for their joy in the midst of suffering. In fact, he says towards the end of the first chapter that their faith is so evident and so widely known that he does not even need to mention it. That is a pretty powerful statement. Here is a church whose faith in Christ is so powerfully visible that everyone has heard about it. And he particularly references their joy in the midst of suffering.

The whole world is living through a difficult season right now. The world is more desperately in need of hope and joy than I think I have ever seen. And I believe this is the church's opportunity to shine. We are people of hope. We have the joy of the Lord even in the midst of struggle. We can share this with others by the way we live through this pandemic. Like the early church, if the Christ followers of today can live with joy and hope in the midst of such a difficult season, it will be a witness to all the world.

So I want to encourage us to shine the light of Christ in this dark time. Let those of us who claim the name of Jesus set the tone of what it means to embrace a life of hope and joy. May it be said of us, as it was of the church in Thessalonica, that our joy was so visible and our faith so evident that everyone around us knew about it. May our lives inspire hope in others in these dark times in a way that draws them to Christ. Let us shine in such a way that our friends, neighbors and co-workers cannot help but notice and give glory to God.

I also want to take a moment to thank and congratulate everyone who helped with the Rock Run Raiser this past weekend. In spite of having to adjust things for Covid, we still had a great turnout and raised thousands of dollars for local charities that are doing great and important work.

Finally, I want to remind us that this Friday we have an outreach event in Sandown. From 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. will be this year's Trunk or Treat. We've made adjustments to add Covid precautions which include registering for time slots. So if you are planning to attend, please click on this link and choose the time that you would like to go. We are also in need of extra volunteers this year in order to keep the process running smoothly and safely. We can use help with set-up at 3:00 pm and then with crossing guards, hosts and other help during the event. We also still have room for a few more trunks if you would like to decorate a trunk and join the fun. If you can help in any of these ways, please contact Kristen at kirsten@stmattumc.org by Thursday noon.

I look forward to us all being together in worship this Sunday either on-line or in person. Don’t forget that if you are joining us in person, we need you to RSVP at this link.

God Bless,

Pastor Steve

Be the light

I've been working through Paul's letters to the Philippians this week in my “First 5” daily devotionals. In chapter 4 Paul shares one of my favorite passages.  "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."

There is no shortage of negative content in the world right now. We don't have to look far to find things that are not true, noble, pure or lovely. And truthfully, it is very easy to get drawn into that. But Paul is encouraging us to seek out and to focus our hearts and minds on those things that are beautiful, noble, pure and admirable.

Even during Covid there are lots of ways to serve!

But I would actually take it further than that. More than simply focus on those things, I would encourage us to share them. We live in an often dark world. But as Christ followers, we are meant to be light in the darkness. I pray that we could be the ones to share with the world all that is true, pure, noble and lovely. Let us be the ones to bring blessing to the world.

We are the bearers of hope, healing, restoration and redemption. We are the ones to bring the love of God and the peace of Christ into our world. In the message on Sunday we talked about paying forward the grace of God, that unmerited love that we have received. I challenged us to find an opportunity this week to express grace to someone who would never expect it. Since then I have been getting great stories from many of you who have taken on that challenge. I've even shared a few of those stories. Because in the sharing, we help others to focus on that which is lovely and true and admirable.

My encouragement to you today is two-fold. First, find ways to shut off some of the negativity that the enemy seems to want to use to flood our souls with darkness. Focus on what is good and pure. And then, begin to share that with others. Be light in the darkness. Bring hope and healing to a fractured world. In so doing, we bring the light of Christ.

Don't forget to sign up for worship. I would also note that our Plaistow services have been running close to capacity. If you've been attending Plaistow, you might consider visiting one of the other campuses from time to time to help us balance out attendance.

Have a great week and I look forward to us all being together this Sunday in worship either in-person or online.

God bless,

Pastor Steve

Transformed

On Sunday we shared the story of John Newton, the slave ship captain turned preacher who wrote Amazing Grace. As the words of that hymn so powerfully portray, John Newton was overwhelmed by the thought that God could love him in spite of all he had done wrong in his life. That grace, the unmerited love of God, literally transformed him. He set aside the vocation that he had been trained in (from the age of 11) to pursue a life of serving Christ.

John Newton ~ Amazing Grace ~ 1772

This concept of transformation is found throughout the New Testament. The apostle Paul speaks of it as laying down our old nature and being made new in Christ. Of course the transformation that John Newton experience was by no means limited to his vocation.  It was a transformation that permeated every aspect of his life. And so it is for us. It impacts our choices and our lifestyle. It influences our attitudes and our worldview. It transforms our mannerisms and our interactions with others. It shapes our values and priority. There is no aspect of our lives that the transformation that comes from experiencing the grace of God does not reach.

God's grace really is amazing. I've been a believer for about 50 years now. And I will confess to you that having lived with the knowledge of God's grace for so long, I have often taken it for granted. But then, every once in a while, I will reread a passage of scripture, or experience a moment of grace, that brings me back to the wonder and awe that I once felt. From time to time, God gives me the gift of being able to see his grace through new eyes and be reminded afresh of what a wondrous and precious thing this grace of God really is.  

We began a new series this week entitled GRACE(full). I will be honest, it is as much for me as it is for all of us. It is an opportunity to be reminded of the depth of God's unmerited love for us. My hope is that we can see God's grace through fresh eyes and can experience its transformational power once again.

I realize we are in a strange time. And in many ways it has been a difficult season for the Church of Jesus Christ. Without being able to gather in Christian fellowship it is very easy for us to not only feel disconnected from the church family, but even from God.  However, I believe God is doing something. I believe he's beginning to move in new ways that we can only see the very edges of right now.  I believe God is preparing to do great things in our church and in our individual lives. And I'm convinced that it begins with a renewed understanding of the amazing grace of God.

I pray that every one of you will be with us, in person or online, this Sunday as we continue this journey that I am calling GRACE(full).  Have a blessed week. Don't forget that you need to RSVP for worship. You can find all the information at www.rock-church.org/live.

God Bless,

Pastor Steve

P.S. Don’t forget that the Rock Run Raiser is coming up on Oct 17. See all the info at www.rockrunraiser.com. Get dirty for good!

A New Thing. . .

“Behold I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?” These were the words of God proclaimed to the prophet Isaiah. I am convinced that God is at work in even our most difficult circumstances. In fact, I think God does more than simply help us survive the hard times. I believe God brings good from bad, blessing from curse, opportunity from setback.

This weekend we will return to indoor, in-person worship. If you haven't heard about it, you can see all the details at www.rock-church.org/live. At that page you will see we are offering two types of services (high precaution and moderate precaution) and that we are beginning to roll out Nextgen children's ministry and nursery. You will also see that we all need to register for worship in order to maintain safe distancing. The link to register is on that page. On the surface, all this precaution, small gatherings and social distancing doesn't sound great.  But what if God is doing a new thing? What if God is using this difficult season to do something new in his church?

CR is back in-person. Join us Tuesday nights beginning at 6:30 pm at our Plaistow Campus!

I can almost hear God's words to Isaiah ringing out again in our generation. “I am doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it?” What if this time away from church as we've known it could be an opportunity for us to truly reflect on our faith and recommit ourselves to serving Christ with our whole heart? What if the smaller gatherings are meant to be a way for us to get to know one another in the body of Christ at a deeper level? What if this is meant to help us experience community in a deeper way than we ever have in the past? What if all of this shake up is meant to bring us back to a closer representation of the early church that met in small groups with great passion and conviction of faith?

I've been through some things in my life that I never would have chosen. But I have experienced the presence of God in the midst of those times in a way that brought me closer to Him. God doesn't put us through hard times. But he can certainly use them to bring about good, to strengthen us, to build our faith and sometimes even to bring about a new beginning.

I feel like God is preparing us for a new beginning. A fresh start. An opportunity to see and experience our faith through fresh eyes. I fear that sometimes we take the things of our faith for granted. Is it possible that God is using this time to bring us closer to him and deeper with Christ?

I want to take a moment to remind everyone that this Saturday is our ALIVE women's ministry retreat. This is always an awesome event, and we are doing it live and in person. You can see all the details at this link.

I look forward to us all being together this weekend either on the live stream, or at one of our live in-person services. We will be starting a new series entitled “GRACE(full)~Living a grace filled life.”  I promise you will not want to miss even a single week.

God bless,

Pastor Steve

Ten and a half days . . .

As I post this blog, we are 10 ½ days from the restart of indoor, in-person worship at Rock Church. I am super excited and a little bit anxious.  I’m excited because I have so missed being together will all of you in our worship spaces. But I’m also anxious because we are having to do this in new ways under conditions unlike anything we have known in the past. 

As we prepare to re-engage in indoor worship, I would ask us to keep in mind two important words. The first is “experiment.”  We are going to be trying different approaches in order to create a worship experience that is meaningful and safe. It is likely that some of the things we try will work out great. There may be other things that need to be modified as we go along.  Since none of us knows the future, some of what we try may work now, but not work as well later. 

This leads to our second word, “Patience.”  With all of the Covid related provisions that must me be made, there may be things that you do not particularly like or agree with. All I can ask is that we be patient. Please be patient with me and our leadership team as we seek to navigate this challenging season. And please be patient with one another. As I mentioned last week, in a church family our size there will be diverse perspectives on how we should approach this pandemic. 

Now I just want to remind us of how this is going to work. Beginning on October 4 we will offer two indoor services at each campus.  The 9:00 am service will be a high precaution (HP) service.  That means everyone will wear masks through the whole service.  There will be no physical contact. There will be a deep cleaning prior to the service. Attendance will be limited to 30% capacity.   At 10:30 am there will be a moderate precaution (MP) service.  Masks will be required until you get to your seat and then are optional. Permission based contact will be acceptable. There will be a cleaning of high touch surfaces just prior to the service. Seating will be 50% capacity.

A few other important things to remember. 

Volunteers are needed in tech, hospitality, cleaning and other important areas as we open indoor worship.

• You must pre-register.  There will be a registration page on our rock-church.org website with a sign-up link that goes live on Wednesday morning.  The sooner you register, the better chance of getting into the service you prefer.  If you know anyone without internet access, please contact Lynette so we can work out alternate registration arrangements for them.

• Doors will open 15 minutes prior to the service.  This allows us time for cleaning and last minute preparations. 

• We will still offer excellent online worship.  If this is the better option for you, we encourage you to engage online at rockchurchnh.online.church at 9:00 or 10:30 am.

• We need volunteers.  We are expanding our number of services.  This means we need more volunteers than ever.  We are particularly in need of greeters, ushers, computer techs, camera operators (Plaistow only) and between service cleaners.  If you can help in any of these ways, please let us know at this link.

• Because of the increased number of services, the message will be a rotation of live preaching by myself, the campus pastors and video teaching (me).  All other aspects of the services will be live.

On another note, I also want to let you know about a special prayer event coming up this weekend. ‘The Return’ event is being held in Washington D.C. this Saturday. ‘The Return’ is a solemn assembly whose mission is revival through individual, national, and global repentance (2 Chronicles 7:14). We are well aware that our nation, and indeed the entire world, is in turmoil. We need Jesus. This event is an invitation to ‘Return’ to the Lord. Various Rock Church ministries have partnered to host a simulcast at our Sandown campus. You are welcome to attend any time throughout the day (9:00-5:00).

This Sunday, Sept 27, we will have online worship in the morning and a live outdoor service at 5:00 pm at our new North Shore location.  I look forward to us all being together online or in person.

God Bless,

Pastor Steve

Exciting News!

I have exciting news to share. On Sunday October 4th Rock Church will return to offering in-person indoor worship. As I'm sure you can imagine, there will be certain guidelines in place. But with appropriate precautions, we can once again gather in our sanctuaries to enjoy the community of our church family and worship and praise the living God.

One of the most challenging aspects of returning to indoor worship is establishing the appropriate level of precaution. Ours is a large congregation with diverse needs and opinions. We have folks within our church family who need to be very cautious because of their own health, the health of someone they provide care for or because of their job. We have others within the church family who consider themselves to be low risk and are not as concerned about a high precaution approach to gathering.

We will not all agree on the best approach.  But out of mutual love and respect we are attempting to develop a process that meets everyone's needs. So here's the plan. As an experiment, when we come back to indoor worship, we will offer three alternatives.

• Option one.  We will continue to offer an excellent online worship experience. This is the best opportunity for those who are having to observe the highest level of precaution.

• Option two. We will offer a higher precaution in person worship service. Those who attend this HP service will wear masks throughout the service. The service size will be restricted to 30% or less capacity. This will be a no contact, social distance service (no handshakes, hugs, fist bumps, etc.)

• Option three. We will offer a moderate precaution service. Masks will be worn until seated and then are optional (until exiting). Service capacity will be no more than 50%. At this service, permission-based contact will be acceptable. This means if you and another are both comfortable shaking hands, fist bumping, etc., that is your choice. But please do not initiate contact without permission and hand washing or sanitizing is recommended.

Here are a few more key details.

• We are not allowed to gather in the lobby. As we pass through the lobby to the sanctuary, please maintain six foot distancing.

• Registration will be required for all services. This is the only way we can keep attendance at the 30% and 50% levels. A link will be sent out on Wednesdays to register online for the service of your choice that Sunday. If you know of a church member that does not have internet access please let us know at this link so we can work out an alternative sign up process for them.

• Schedule. Every campus will offer a 9:00 a.m. HP service and a 10:30 a.m. MP service. There will be a full cleaning prior to the HP service and a cleaning of high-touch surfaces just before the MP service. We want to stress that this is an experiment. We will run the schedule for the month of October. We may find there is a greater need for one or the other type of service. At that point we will adjust the schedule as seems appropriate.

• We need all hands on deck. Since we don't know yet who will return in person and who will continue to worship online, we will need additional volunteers in every area including greeters, cleaning team, tech, musicians and more. You can see all the information and sign up to help at this link. 

• Most multi-site churches use a combination of in-person and video teaching.  Beginning in October, we will be doing the same.  I will be rotating across all three campuses.  So every campus will have a combination of preaching from myself live, on video and the campus pastors live.  Because preaching preparation consumes substantial time, this will free up time for campus pastors to do more in ministry development, leadership training, outreach, pastoral care and more.

I will be sharing all this information again, with more detail, in a Facebook live presentation this evening (Wed) at 7:00 p.m. As a live format, you can ask questions on the spot and I will do my best to respond.  

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to be able to come back together in our sanctuaries. I've loved the outdoor services, but there is something special about gathering in our worship spaces.  I hope that many of you will be able to join us. But I also want you to know that if you are not yet ready to return in person we will continue to offer an excellent live stream experience for you.

Just a reminder that this Sunday we will offer an outdoor in-person service at our Sandown campus at 5:00 pm.  Sunday September 27 will be an outdoor service at our new North Shore location at 5:00 pm.  And of course, there will still be 9:00 am and 10:30 am online worship.

God bless,

Pastor Steve

As One

I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that we are living in one of the most divided times in recent memory. In fact, I don't remember there ever being a time when our society was more polarized. Politics, ideologies, social issues and more have all fueled the division. Even the matter of how we respond to the Covid crisis has become highly divisive.

In The Gospel of John, the entire 17th chapter is devoted to a prayer of Jesus. He prays for himself and the sacrifice that is before him. He prays for the disciples who have been with him. And he prays for all believers who will follow in their footsteps.  The culmination of that prayer is found in verse 22 when Jesus intercedes before that Father "that they may be one as we are one -- I in them and you and me -- so that they may be brought to complete unity.". Literally moments before he is arrested, his heart's desire, his prayer, is that we, the body of Christ, would be one.

Join us Sunday evening at 5:00 pm for outdoor worship at our Plaistow campus. Come a little early for ice cream!

Something that has been heavy on my heart is the way the polarization and division that we are seeing in our culture has begun to work its way into the church.  Of course, as human beings we will have different opinions at times. To be unified is not to be unanimous in all our thoughts. But I fear that sometimes the anger and divisiveness that we are seeing in our culture is beginning to impact how we treat one another, even within the church family.  And often I find myself echoing the prayer of Jesus. May we be one as He and the Father are one.

I am convinced that it is possible to hold divergent opinions and still love one another, treat one another with respect, and yes even to be unified. But how do we do that? I believe the essential first step is to focus on what unites us.  As brothers and sisters in Christ we are united first by a common faith. We are all grateful recipients of the grace of God and the forgiveness that comes through Christ alone.  We also share a common mission. Regardless of our political alliances, our social stances or even our opinions about the best way to approach Covid, we are united in a common mission to share Jesus with the world. Remember, one of our core convictions as a church is that “everyone needs Jesus.”  

And finally, we share eternity. The day is going to come when our political parties and candidates have long since passed away.   Even pandemics will eventually cease. But eternity is forever. And as Christ followers, we will all spend eternity together. While we may disagree about certain things in this world, my prayer is that we would still be united in Christ. I pray that we would be patient with one another. And that we would love one another with the same love that Christ has given us.

Have a great week. I look forward to us being together this Sunday either on-line, or at our in-person outdoor service at our Plaistow campus at 5:00 pm. Come a few minutes earlier for ICE CREAM!

Love you all,

Pastor Steve  

Our New North Shore Space!

I am extremely excited to announce that yesterday we closed on our new worship space for our North Shore campus.  This new space is going to provide for us so many things that our previous space was lacking. It is fully accessible. It has ample off street parking. It offers a large children's ministry space as well as adult life group spaces. Because it had been used as a church by its previous owners it has a modern worship space with sound and lighting already built in.  Did I mention that I am super excited about this new space!

There is definitely some deferred maintenance that needs to be cared for and some updates and improvements that need to be made.  But with a little “home makeover” this is going to be an amazing space for ministry and worship.  Some of the work will have to be hired out, but some of it can be done by volunteers. If any of you have free time in the coming weeks and might like to be a part of helping us with some of this work, please be sure to let me know.  

Pastor Paul praying over one of the classroom in our new North Shore space

To celebrate the closing, this Sunday we are going to hold an in-person outdoor worship service at our new space. The address is 58 Macy Street in Amesbury. The back side of the building has a beautiful wooded area that looks out over the river.  That is where we will meet for worship. So we invite you to bring a lawn chair and join us this Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for outdoor worship.  After the service we will take people in small Covid safe groups through the building for tours if you would like to see it. If you would like to take a tour, please bring a face mask with you.

I believe God is continuing to do great things in our ministry.  This new ministry space will be an important step in helping us to further share the Gospel in the North Shore region. I for one can't wait to see how God is going to take this step of faith and use it for good.

I hope many of you will be able to join us Sunday for this great celebration.  But for those who are not able to make that, or not yet ready to be out in groups, we will also have an excellent online service for you.  Either way, I can't wait for us to be together this Sunday to worship and celebrate the good news of Jesus.

God bless,

Pastor Steve

On another note, we are preparing for our Rock Run Raiser and would like your input. We are trying to get a sense of whether people will want to participate live or if some might prefer to participate in a virtual/individual alternative. If you have participate in the Run Raiser, or would like to this year, please take a moment to fill out this simple one question survey at this link.

I love our church!

I love our church! As many of you know, it has been a challenging season in the Murray household. It has been a little over a year now since Nicole began her battle with cancer. A few months after she was diagnosed, our son Christopher started dialysis, and we began working towards kidney transplant. Through it all, the outpouring of love and support from our church has been incredible.

Nicole and I have just been overwhelmed by the expressions of love that we have received in this season. The prayers poured out for strength and healing on behalf of our family have been innumerable. The offers of help have been more plentiful than we even know what to do with. It has been truly humbling to be the recipients of such grace.  We would be hard pressed to find the words to fully express our gratitude.

I was reading this morning from I Corinthians 13 in preparation for tomorrow's First 5 daily devotional. You may know that this is a chapter in which Paul describes the true nature of love. Here he reminds the Corinthian church, and those of us who read it centuries later, that nothing we do matters without love. You and I can possess great talents and spiritual gifts, we can achieve great accomplishments, but without love it is just a lot of noise.

Livestream production behind the scenes!

I praise God today that we are part of a church that is built on a foundation of love. I have observed this not only as it has been expressed to my own family, but to so many others in our church. For example, last week a good friend passed away after an extended battle cancer. I was awed by the way members of our church, and particularly his life group, supported he and his family as they walked this difficult path. During this Covid crisis I've watched people reach out in love to support many others who were struggling. If I had the time, I could share story after story of love and kindness.

Today I want to express my appreciation for all the ways that each of you are being “the church,” the embodiment of Christ in our world. In so many ways you are living out a phrase we regularly share at Rock Church. Love God. Love others. Do good. As we continue to move forward, I would encourage us with the same words Paul encouraged the Galatian church:  “Let us not grow weary in doing good.” May we continue to reflect the love of Christ at every opportunity and in all we do.

I want to let you know that this Sunday, along with the livestream, we will have an outdoor in-person service at our Plaistow location at 9:30 am.  This will be the closing service for “RockFest.”  (our in-house Soulfest alternative).  As such, the music will be led by our youth band and the message will be shared by one of our youth leaders Heidi Mongeau. 

Have a blessed week.

Pastor Steve

PS. On Sept 13 we will be launch a new session of ROOTED. If you would like to know more about this powerful 10 week lifegroup experience, visit the info page at this link.

Staying Healthy

A couple of weeks ago I stepped on the scale and decided it was time to drop a few pounds. During this whole Covid thing I have found myself slowly creeping up. It was barely noticeable (so I told myself) but I could feel the difference. I'm definitely not a diet guy, but I decided it was time to cut back on snacks and junk food. It wasn't that I had lost all discipline, but with some chips here, a bowl of ice cream there,  it was beginning to add up.

I don't know about you, but for me, getting out of shape seems to happen gradually. It wasn't just my diet. I had also slowly fallen out of the habit of exercise. Step by step, little by little, I had gotten to a place of not being as physically healthy as I want to be. I think the same thing happens spiritually. It can sneak up on us. But little by little, it is easy to get to a place of not being as spiritually healthy as we would like to be.

During this Covid crisis it has been particularly easy to get out of shape, physically and spiritually. There has been disruption in our worship schedule, canceled special events and a pause in some of our life groups. Combine that with the natural interruption of summer and many of us may be feeling a little disconnected spiritually. When I began to notice my physical wellness was slipping, it took two things to get me back on track. First was a recognition that it was happening. After all, it happened so gradually that it could be easy to miss. The second was the intentional decision to do something about it.

Here are a few ideas to help you develop a plan for how to stay spiritually healthy in the midst of this strange season.

One of our new volunteer opportunities is to be a camera operator for worship!

• Online worship. If you have fallen away from regular participation, jump back in. And do it during the live times if you can (9:00 am on Facebook.  9 & 10:30 am on our online platform). The benefit of that is you can be a part of the online dialogue and stay connected to people as you worship.

• Life groups. Many are still meeting. Some in person and some on zoom. Get connected to a group. Dig deeper.

• Midweek service. Tomorrow night we are launching a new midweek series.  While I am preparing for and recovering from kidney donation, I’ve asked Heidi Mongeau to lead a 5 week series on the Holy Spirit.  It streams live on Facebook every Thursday at 6:30 pm.

• First 5.  Back towards the beginning of the summer I started a daily online video devotional called First 5.  Chapter by chapter we have worked through the Book of Acts together and are now working through I Corinthians. They are only a few minutes long, but a great way to start your day. If you would like to receive a daily reminder with the link for the First 5 of the day, please send me your preferred email address.

It’s a strange time we are living in. With all the disruptions, it would be easy to begin to see our spiritual health suffer. Let’s do all we can to stay spiritually healthy and strong.

God Bless

Pastor Steve

PS. We are so excited to announce we are starting a brand new life group for moms. If you would be interest, you can find information at this link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/RockChurchFamily/permalink/3410099785675171/

Foolishness?

Have you ever done or said something foolish? In my first year in ministry we had a first time guest join us for worship. She was “obviously” pregnant, so I asked her when the baby was due? You can probably guess the rest of the story. Let's just say I never asked that question again. A few years later, a man and a woman walked in for the first time. The baby faced young man was considerably shorter than the woman, who introduced herself first. So I asked “and is this your son?” You would think I would have learned by now. Foolishness.

In my First 5 daily devotional we just began a study of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians where he speaks of a different kind of foolishness. In chapter 1 Paul writes “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” There is a wisdom of the world and a wisdom of God. And often we find that those two are in contradiction. Following the ways of Christ can feel like foolishness to the world. Who in their right mind would put the needs of others ahead of their own? Who would pursue a way of life that calls us to self-sacrifice? Who would follow a leader who teaches us to turn the other cheek when someone strikes us? And for that matter, why would God allow his own son to be put to death for the salvation of the very people who nailed him to the cross or shouted crucify him. There is only one reason. Love.

There is a love that calls us to a higher standard. There is a love that puts others first. There is a love that is altruistic and sacrificial. This is the love of Christ that to some may seem like foolishness. But it is the wisdom of God that; in serving we find meaning, in sacrifice we find fulfillment and in blessing others we find a joy that goes beyond anything that worldly pursuits can offer. So, if pursuing a life in Christ based in the wisdom of God brings us meaning, purpose, fulfillment and true joy, can we really call that foolishness?

Paul described himself later in the book of Corinthians as a fool for Christ. If we understand that to mean one who pursues the wisdom of God over the conventional wisdom of our world, I would accept that moniker.  In truth, there is a foolishness that leads to abundant life.

If you haven't been following my First 5 daily devotionals, I would invite you to check it out on the Rock Church Facebook page. Every weekday at 6:00 am I put out a five to seven minute video where we are working our way through a book of the Bible one chapter at a time. It's a great way to start the day. If you'd like to receive a daily email reminder, send me your preferred email address and I'll add you to the list.

Have a wonderful week. I look forward to being together on our livestream worship this Sunday at our new platform at 9:00 am or 10:30 or on Facebook at 9:00 am.

God bless,

Pastor Steve

Long awaited call

A little over 30 years ago our first born son Christopher slipped on some freshly fallen snow on his way into the house. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was on a Saturday evening after a church event. Without going into too much detail, that injury led to the discovery that he was born with one kidney and that kidney was diseased. After 30 years of quarterly visits with his nephrologist, his kidney function finally degraded to the point where he was forced to begin dialysis. Clearly dialysis is not the best long term solution for such a young man, so a transplant seemed like the next logical step. For the past eight months or so, he and I have been through every imaginable test to determine if he was eligible for kidney transplant and if I could qualify as a donor.

It wouldn't normally have taken that long for approval, but in the process of evaluating Chris it was discovered he had a large (baseball sized) tumor in one lung. Praise be to God it was contained and subsequently removed. Then came the Corona virus and all non-essential medical procedures were canceled, including kidney donor testing. A few weeks ago I finally had my last test, and last week I got the long-awaited phone call that I had been approved. We found out yesterday that our surgery date will be August 11th 2020.

Our next outdoor in-person service will be this Sunday at 9:00 am at our Sandown campus.

I share that with you for a couple of reasons. First because I welcome your prayers. God is the great physician and I know that with our lives in his hands, Chris and I will be well. But I also share this because, for a few weeks, I am likely to be less available to do much of what I generally do. Fortunately, we have an amazing leadership team at Rock Church and I know our ministry will not skip a beat.

From about August 1st to 10th I will still be working from my home office, but I will have to be quarantined.  They want to minimize any risk of either of us getting sick before the surgery. Post-surgery they anticipate that I will be in the hospital for about 4 days and then on bed rest at home for a couple of weeks. Apparently your body needs some time to adjust to living with one less kidney. But if all goes well, I hope to be getting back into some aspects of ministry by early September.

So please do keep Chris and I in your prayers. After so many years of anticipating this day, it is hard to believe it is actually here. But I know the promise of scripture that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” No matter what we face, no matter what we go through, God is with us.

Have a great week.

God Bless,

Pastor Steve

On another note, I also want to remind us that this Sunday we will hold an in-person outdoor service. This one will be at our Sandown campus at 9:00 a.m. I look forward to seeing you either in person at the service or on the livestream.

Worth the wait

A couple of Sundays ago we planned to hold another outdoor worship service (with ice cream!) Much to my disappointment, the clouds rolled in and we got a serious, although much needed, rainfall. So we postponed and tried again this past Sunday.  Although the forecast called for another afternoon thunderstorm, God parted the clouds and we had beautiful weather by the time we started scooping. Despite being a holiday weekend, we had a great turnout and an awesome, spirit-filled time of worship. Looking back I have to say it was totally worth the wait.

I wouldn't consider myself a patient person by nature. If there's work to be done, let's do it. If there's a need to be met, let's meet it. If there's an opportunity before us, let's seize it. But over the years I've begun to discover that sometimes God's timing is not my timing. Sometimes I have to be patient. But if God is in it, it is always worth the wait.

My guess is that most of us have had the experience of having to wait on something. It might have been waiting on love, but in God's perfect timing the right person came along. For others, it might have been waiting on the right job opportunity or the right house in a very active market. At a spiritual level, some of us have been witnessing to a loved one or friend for many years, waiting for the day when they will finally open their heart to Jesus. And I know that many are waiting on an answer to prayer that seems delayed in coming. But God's timing is not our timing. And when that soulmate, that perfect job, that answer to prayer finally comes, we will know it was worth the wait.

From the early stages of this Covid crisis, I’ve believed that God intends to bring good from bad, blessing from curse. That he would make a way to use this to advance the work of Christ and to bring people closer to him. While I've seen hints of it here and there, I feel like the real breakthrough is yet to come. And while I'm not great at waiting, I'm trusting in God's perfect timing. I honestly can't wait to see how God will use this season for his purposes and for his glory. I don't know exactly what that would look like or exactly when it will come. But I know it will be worth the wait.

God Bless,

Pastor Steve

On another note, I wanted to let you know that beginning this Sunday we are launching a new online platform that will allow you to experience our online worship with better image quality, a live host, a live prayer link and MULTIPLE WORSHIP TIMES. That means beginning this Sunday, on the new platform we will offer worship at 9:00 am and 10:30 am. The link to the new platform is rockchurchnh.online.church. We will also continue to offer the service at 9:00 am on Facebook at this link.

Let it rain

I have to be honest, I was a little bummed out on Sunday night. I was really looking forward to our next in-person outdoor worship service. I watched the hourly weather report and checked the radar a number of times. But as we moved into Sunday afternoon it was increasingly clear that the weather service was right. It was going to rain. I was disappointed to not get to see everyone, but I was grateful for the rain. The truth is we needed it. I could almost hear my lawn, flowers and garden rejoicing!

Outdoor in-person worship this Sunday evening. 6:30 ice cream, 7;00 pm worship at our Plaistow location.

The rain wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but it was exactly what was needed. Life is like that sometimes. We may have a plan that seems good, but God sees the bigger picture. He knows what is really best. So in those moments when my plan does not seem to be coming together in the way I had hoped, I am learning to trust God. And even when MY plan isn't THE plan, I'm learning to look for the good that God is up to.

I've also come to discover that sometimes when my plan doesn't work out, God is not always saying no. Sometimes he's saying not yet. Not today. So last Sunday was not to be the day for our outdoor service, but we will try again this Sunday. If you are able to join us, we invite you to come for ice cream at 6:30 p.m. followed by worship around 7:00 p.m.  Bring a chair or a blanket and join us at our Rock Church Plaistow location. It's a big field, so feel free to bring a friend. Of course we will still offer the 9:00 a.m. live stream for those for whom that is the better option. And the message for both the livestream and the in-person service will be the same.

On another note, I want to share with you a financial update. All in all, we have been staying on track financially during this Covid crisis. I am grateful beyond words for all who have continued to share generously to keep the work of Rock Church moving forward. It is not uncommon during the summer months for us to see a modest decline in giving, even in a normal year.  Over the past couple of weeks, the combination of the start of summer and Covid has begun to set us back in our giving. So I would simply ask us to all do what we can to continue to be faithful in supporting the work of Christ through our church over the summer months. As you probably know, you can give online at rockgiving.org or you can mail a check to Rock Church P.O box 435 Sandown NH 03873. With your help we will continue to serve our community, to share the gospel and to lift up the light of Christ for our region.

God bless,

Pastor Steve

Growing every day

Weather permitting we will be doing another outdoor worship this Sunday EVENING. 6:30 p.m. ice cream. 7:00 p.m. service. Bring a chair, no registration required.

Have you ever experienced seeing a child for the first time after being apart for a while and being blown away by how much they have grown? We’ve had a number of new babies in our church family in the past year or so. I don’t get to see them every day. So when I do get to see them, I’m always amazed at how much they’ve grown. Because their parents see them every day, they don't recognize how much they've grown (until they take the time to look back at old pictures.) Whether we see it or not, over time it is obvious that these beautiful babies are growing every day.

I've come to believe that our spiritual life works in a similar fashion. We may remember big spiritual moments in our lives, like the day we accepted Christ, the moment of our baptism or a special retreat or other event. But the truth is that the majority of our spiritual growth happens a little bit every day in ways that may even be imperceptible in the moment. But then we look back on where we were a year ago, 5 years ago, 10 years ago and realize that we have grown dramatically.

Because of this, I've come to believe that the secret to becoming a growing, maturing disciple of Jesus is found in the little things. It is found in simple, but consistent, daily practices that may not even seem that impactful when we look at them in isolation, but have a tremendous impact when we see them over time.

I'm convinced that if we will invest even a few minutes a day in our spiritual development, over time we will see significant transformation. But the secret is in the consistency. It's in the commitment to make this a part of EVERY DAY of our lives. If I exercise hard once every two weeks, there is a good possibility that I will never be in any better shape than I am right now. But if I exercise, even moderately, EVERY DAY for the next year, it is a good bet that at the end of the year I will be stronger, in better shape and healthier than I am right now.

At the Love Offering event on Saturday, dozens of participants read through the entire New Testament in a day!

The secret to our spiritual growth is found in the daily practice. Prayer, time in the Word. Study. Personal worship. If you're not sure where to begin, I have a resource for you. A few weeks ago I launched a daily online devotion entitled First 5. The purpose of First 5 is to help you get your day off to a great start and help you to grow in your faith a little bit every day.   Each day I off one chapter of scripture to read through. We look at a portion of that reading together and I pray with you.

Each day is only about 5 minutes long. But if you have been with me this past month, by the end of this week you will have studied through the entire book of Acts. The video is posted each weekday morning at 6:00 a.m. If you would like to get a daily email reminder with the link, send me a note with your preferred email address and I will add you to the list. I would love to get to the point where we all do this daily devotion together. Each day that we spend a little time in the word of God and in prayer may not seem like a lot. But over time you will look back and see how much you have grown.

God Bless,

Pastor Steve

The gift of community

     Wow! What an amazing weekend we had a Rock Church. For the first time in months, we were able to worship together in person and it was awesome. Approximately 350 people gathered in the big field next to our Plaistow building and countless more came together online for a great worship celebration.

It's not that we haven't been worshipping. We absolutely have. Through our live stream hundreds of people gather every week in their homes to engage in online worship. Some have taken us camping with them. Others have had us on the road with them as they traveled. The technology that makes all of that possible has proven to be a wonderful gift during this Covid crisis.

Even if you are away from home, you can worship with us online every Sunday!

But for those who were able to gather in person on Sunday we also got to experience the gift of community in a way that many of us have been missing. Personally, I'm involved in several weekly zoom life groups and have been blessed to experience community in that way. But there is something special about getting to see so many people in person.

So whether it is connecting through an online life group, through social media or coming together in some way in person, I am continually reminded of what a precious gift “community” really is.  I am convinced that God has created us for relationship. In whatever form or fashion it takes, community is a gift. And looking back, I know realized how often I have taken it for granted.  I hope that one of the things we take from time of “social distancing” is a true appreciation for the gift of community.  I hope we never take for granted the gift of being able to spend time with people we love, shake hands and hug, be together with family, friends and our church family.

After the outdoor service on Sunday, the question many seemed to be asking was “when can we do this again?”  The short answer is “soon!”  My hope is to do a variety of special in-person services throughout the summer.  They won’t all be the same.  They will likely be in different styles and in different locations.  So I would encourage you to watch carefully for future announcements so you don’t miss out. 

But this Sunday we will gather online for a very special service that I am particularly excited about.  As a part of this new series that I am jokingly calling “How to survive a zombie apocalypse” I include in the message an interview with Evan Sorensen. Evan is a licensed therapist with his own practice, as well as a seminary graduate. Evan brings a clinical understanding of mental health combined with a deeply rooted Christian faith into a conversation of that I know you will find both fascinating and helpful.  So I look forward to us all being together this Sunday at 9:00 am on line at this link.

God bless,

Pastor Steve

I also want to remind us that this Saturday we have a special event we are calling “The Love Offering.” Over the course of the day, we will read through the entire New Testament aloud. The day will be broken into 20 minute reading blocks allowing many people to be a part of this expression of love to God. If you would like to participate or would just like more information, click on this link.

A family reunion!

In case you haven't heard, this Sunday we will be holding our first in-person worship at Rock Church since the Covid crisis began months ago. Because there are still so many restrictions on indoor gatherings, we will hold an outdoor, all church, worship celebration.  By holding the service outdoors, there are no restrictions on the number of people, no masks required and we can all sing out!

Here are a few of the important details related to the service.

• The service is in the field next to our Rock Church Plaistow building (90 Newton Rd.)

• Start time is 10:30 am (BE SURE TO NOTE THE SPECIAL TIME).

• We will mark out squares on the field with walkways in between to maintain required social distancing.

• Everyone should bring their own folding chair or a blanket. 

• People are invited to stay and picnic after the service.  If you plan to stay, bring a picnic lunch.

• There will be no coffee or other food or beverages provided by the church.  Please bring your own.

• There will be spaces in the back for car parking if you would prefer to stay in your car.

• Masks are optional.  But we would ask you to maintain physical distancing.

• We will livestream this service beginning at 10:30.  Even though some may not be able to join us in person, we want to celebrate this service together as one church.

• In the event of rain, we will announce a rain date and provide online worship for June 14.

To help us be as prepared as possible, we would like to know how many families/individuals are able to join us.  That will help us know roughly how many squares to mark out and how to best set up the sounds system.  At this link you will find a sign-up sheet.  If you are able to join us, please sign up with this online form.  Only one per family need sign up.  For those who are health compromised, older or simply not feeling ready to return to an in-person gathering, please do not feel any pressure to attend.  We would love for you to join us on the livestream at this link.

I can't tell you how excited I am to see everyone. It's going to be like a family reunion! During this time of isolation I have been reminded a new of what a precious gift we have in the community we share as a church family. I really can't wait to see you all and I have a special message that I am eager to share.

I also want to let you know about another great opportunity that is coming up on Saturday June 20th. Our prayer ministry is organizing an event we are calling The Love Offering.  As an expression of our love to God, on that day we're going to read aloud through the entire New Testament. We will start early in the morning and run well into the evening. Anyone who would like to participate can sign up for a 20-minute reading block. You can find all the details and the signup sheet at this link.

I pray you have a great week and I look forward to us being together this Sunday. If you are not able to join us in person, we invite you to be with us on the live stream. Remember that this service will be at a special time, 10:30 a.m. 

God Bless,

Pastor Steve